


Nice Shot, Hawkeye

by AugustStories



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Future Fic, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 18:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18722140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AugustStories/pseuds/AugustStories
Summary: Lila was sixteen when Cooper went off to college, all the long way to New York City and NYU. Pre-Med. She had trouble believing it, her stupid idiot older brother, studying to become a bloody doctor. Nate was still a kid, he didn't know yet what he wanted to be when he grew up.Lila did know.She wanted to be a superhero.Lila Barton wanted to be an Avenger.





	Nice Shot, Hawkeye

**Author's Note:**

> Just something short I wrote for the Barton Family because they have a very special place in my heart.

Her brothers didn't care for the life of a superhero, which didn't mean they didn't care for the superheroes they called their big big family, they just didn't want to be one.

Lila was sixteen when Cooper went off to college, all the long way to New York City and NYU. Pre-Med. She had trouble believing it, her stupid idiot older brother, studying to become a bloody doctor. Nate was still a kid, he didn't know yet what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Lila did know.

She wanted to be a superhero.

Lila Barton wanted to be an Avenger.

\--

Cooper was the first one she told about it two years ago and he had flat out asked her if she wasn't scared to follow in their Dad's footsteps.  
"Aunt Nat died," he reminded her gently, like she was ever gonna forget it, "So did Tony and Pietro. Even Vision. It's dangerous, sis." It had been clear that her brother had been testing her, trying to see if it was another decision made on a whim or if she was serious this time.

"I think it's worth the risk," she had told him with determination, "Everyone could die on their job. You could browse through college and med school and then bam, first day in a hospital and you contract some deadly virus." Cooper had raised an eyebrow in that way that Dad did, too, the can-we-tune-down-the-dramatics look. "I admit being a superhero comes with greater risks but someone has to safe the world and protect it. Dad says I'm damn near brilliant with the bow and I knocked him on his ass the last time we sparred."

Cooper had looked at her and then sighed and smiled, he had ruffled her hair despite her protests. He had told her he was gonna support her in any decision she was gonna make and to remember to come to him if she needed to be patched up.

\--

Telling her parents about her superhero aspirations was a little more difficult, it needed a sensitive approach.

Or at least that was what she thought.

Her Dad had retired for good after Thanos had ben defeated, he didn't want to be out in the field anymore, not when half his team from back then wasn't around anymore, not when Aunt Nat wasn't there to have his back anymore. He still went up to New York and the base sometimes, helped with training and advice, her Dad had much experience and he wanted to share it, just safely out of harm's way. Sometimes Lila found her Dad up late with the laptop open on the kitchen table, a Skype window to Bucky or Sam or Rhodey open, and them talking about a case. Or when Bucky or Wanda visited them on the farm, there would sometimes be talk about missions but it was rare because Lila knew that both, Bucky and Wanda, sought them out to escape the avenging for a while.

After much consideration she chose to talk to her Dad first, it was him whose footsteps she wanted to trace, it was him who had lost so many friends and teammates in ultimate sacrifices, most of the time even right in front of him.

\--

She picked an evening where Nate was on a sleepover party, Mom was in Des Moines to visit a friend for a few days and Bucky was set to come in the morning, which meant her Dad was relaxed and in a good mood.

He was sitting on the porch swing with one of Nate's little robots that was refusing to work propperly now – Lila had the suspicion that her Dad was only checking it over to save his dignity but that the toy was going to be travelling with Bucky back to base so Rhodey would actually fix it. She sat down next to him and fiddled around with the radio until it played something better than her Dad's so well loved old stuff.

"Bored?" Her Dad wanted to know after another silent moment of him prodding the toy robot with a screwdriver, "Nothing to see on Netflix, Disney+ or whatever streaming service popped up since the last time I asked? Homework already done?" She rolled her eyes, homework and school hadn't truly kept her busy for long in years now.  
"I wanted to ask you something, Dad." She said instead and her Dad glanced over to her, something in her face must have told him how serious she was so he abandoned the robot.

"Alright, let me hear it."

Lila decided to just be blunt, "How much would I have to fight you to get your support in me becoming an Avenger?" Once the question was out, Lila breathed again, her Dad looked at her and Lila waited.  
"You wouldn't have it fight me at all," her Dad surprised her before even the half a minute mark of silence had been reached. "Listen, Lila, would I want my family and friends to be safe and sound at all times? Yes. Would I want Bucky and Wanda to not leave the farm everytime they do to throw themselves back into action? Yes, I do. But I also know that this world needs the Avengers, it needs superheroes to protect it. And you'd have a team around you to have your back, to look out for you. It would be highly hypocritical of me to choose it for myself but to tell my kids no."

"Really?"

"I taught you how to shoot a bow, Lila. I practiced with you again and again until you were perfect, and then I showed you how to fight. Because I knew you wanted to learn, because I knew you had fun with it." Her Dad's explanation left her floored and Lila didn't know what to say at first, "Why did you expect me to fight?"

"Because of Pietro and Tony... and Aunt Nat." She confessed her worries but her Dad smiled, flicking her nose teasingly.  
"At least two of those you just listed, probably even all three would slap me over the head and remind me to let people make their own choices," her Dad told her and leaned back into the swing. "I want to see you happy and safe, sweetheart, but I also want you to become what you wish to be. And if that is a superhero then I rather have you under Sam's and Rhodey's command than have you do what I did in the beginning. Going at it alone."

"Are you gonna state conditions?" She wanted to know and her Dad laughed, swinging an arm around her shoulders.  
"Not from me, sweetheart, but Mom will have some and Rhodey and Sam will have some as well," he painted her the picture. "Most likely it will go for you like it did for Parker after Thanos. No official Avenging until you finished school and you will at least try to go to college. Parker will have advice for you, I don't doubt it."

"What is Mum going to say?" She wondered while dropping sideways to lean against her Dad who set the swing into motion.  
"She's gonna worry but she'll do that entirely independent of what you're gonna choose for your future." Her Dad reminded her as a first point. "Look at Coop, the most exciting thing he does these days is go for a run between stints of classes and hours at the library." Lila chose to keep her mouth shut about the parties her brother had told her about, their parents didn't need to know everything. "And still your mother worries, it's just who she is, but she will support you. She'll be proud of you because she knows how great you are." Lila blushed, praise coming from her parents still made her uncomfortable.

"I love you, Dad."

"I love you, too, Hawkeye."

\--

"What did you expect he was gonna say?" Bucky asked her the next day when she joined him for a run in the early evening while Dad and Nate made dinner. "Telling you no? Would have made him one hell of a hypocrite, look at what he did when he was your age." Lila laughed because she knew the stories by now, the funny ones, the embarassing ones but also the gritty scary ones where her Dad's life had been on the line. "And besides, your Dad knows we're not fighting cosmic apocalypses anymore these days. Our enemies are usually mostly humans, or at least stoppable with our means." He explained and they turned back onto the forest path that would bring them back home.

"Are you gonna say anything?" She wondered out loud then as they ran over twigs and roots. Bucky and her Dad had become close friends in the three years since Thanos' defeat, Aunt Nat's death and Steve's decision to choose another timeline to finally be truly happy and at peace. Her Mum had told her that they filled a hole in each other's life like maybe no one else could. And they understood each other better than Steve could ever understand Bucky in the end.

"I have long since learned that if I tell stubborn people with a hero complex no they're only gonna find a way behind my back," Bucky chuckled and glanced down at her, "and I rather be the cool uncle for you than another adult you kids are hiding things from." Lila snorted in response, Bucky had caught Coop on a night out in New York by sheer accident. "Be honest with me, that's all I'm gonna ask of you. Honest about when you're hurt, honest about feeling scared, honest about being overwhelmed."

"You're not gonna help me convince Mom, are you?"

"Hell no," Bucky laughed and they broke out of the forest onto the farm, "that is the last battle you have to face alone, Hawkeye." He made clear to her and then laughed at her scowl. "I will support you when you ask Sam and Rhodey though."

\--

Wanda took the news about her wish with a stint of silence in which Lila sweated herself through her shirt as they were sitting in a cafe in Waverly on the way back from a shopping trip to Waterloo. She played around the with bracelet on her wrist while Wanda stirred her coffee and seemingly thought about an answer.

"Your wish doesn't surprise me," the woman Lila thought of more as a big sister than an aunt said after a good one and a half minute of silence, "even saying I didn't see this coming would be a lie."  
"But you don't like it?" Lila pushed a little for the opinion because Wanda's blessing was important to her, maybe not as much as her parents' but she would still feel a little sad if Wanda wanted her to stay out of it.

"I don't want to see you hurt," Wanda told her and met her eyes again, "I've seen a lot of my friends got hurt in this job, Lila. I've seen family get hurt and I'd like to not repeat it." Lila bit her lips, they had long stopped feeling guilty in talking with Wanda about her brother, about the young man they had never gotten to know but who had done so much for the Barton Family by sacrificing himself so her Dad could live. "But," Wanda continued before Lila could twist her stomach into even more knots, and she even smiled a little, "You have your Dad's stubborn head and his recklessness so I guess I should actually be thrilled you even want to become an official Avenger instead of just jumping into vigilante business on your own."

Lila tried to fight back a grin but failed, her Dad's teenage wildness was something he got teased about by everyone around him since Coop had turned fifteen.

"I think I could really help, Wanda," Lila also took a cue to talk again herself, "And I want to help, I want to protect people and save them. And before you come at me with police men or firefighters, they're not fighting with a bow and arrow. And they can get hurt just as much as an Avenger does, maybe even more because they don't have flyers, witches or Hulks on their teams." It was an argument she had created in preparation for the big talk with her Mom. Wanda smiled at her, brighter now, and suddenly Lila realized that it had been a test. "Oh my god, Bucky already told you!"

"He did," Wanda laughed and finally lost the strict posture, leaning back into the bench in the small cafe they both liked very much, "He came back to base, all proud and giddy, took no time at all for Sam to fish the reason out of him." Lila groaned and dropped down to set her forehead onto the tabletop, Bucky and her Dad really were too similar sometimes. "I think he is looking forward to be for you what Sam and Rhodey did for Pete."

"So you think I could do it? Hold up with superheroes?"

"Yeah," Wanda was quick to answer her this time, curling a hand around one of Lila's on the table, "You'll be a great Avenger, little sister."

\--

Telling Mom.

Now there was the big terrifying hurdle on the path to even dream about achieving her goal.

Dad had promised her he would leave it up to her and even Bucky swore he would keep his mouth shut, a remarkably feat he managed for Coop and her because usually only one look from Mom had him spill his secrets. If Mom had staid at Shield, Hydra would have been discovered way earlier.

But enough with the hesitation, Lila decided and breathed out deeply when she rounded into the kitchen where her Mom was finishing up cleaning up after Sunday breakfast. Cooper was back for the weekend and Dad and him had taken Nate down to the lake for fishing so she could have alone time with Mom.

"Hey, darling," her Mom greeted her back as she closed the cupboard for the glasses, "What are your plans for today? Should enjoy the silence until the boys come back and."  
"I was wondering if we could talk," Lila cut her mother off before her nerves got the better of her again, her Mom's smile wavered a little as she watched her. "It's nothing bad... at least I hope so."  
"Of course we can talk, sweetie," her Mom said and sat down at the table, pulling out the chair next to her and patting the back of it until Lila sat down on it. "What's up, Lila, what's on your mind?"

She had never been this nervous before in her life.

"I... I want to do more than just shoot arrows in the backyard, Mom." She started her speech carefully, Mom was the one she had to convince the most. "I'm not like Coop, I don't want super good grades to go to really good college and pick up a really amazing career. I'm happy for him, becoming a doctor, that really fits him, it's gonna make him happy but I just can't see myself in such an... earthly profession. I love the bow, I love seeing arrows and hitting their mark, I like how free and empowered it makes me feel. I also like the sparring with Dad, to know that I can defend myself if I ever need to, fight back. I'm good at it, Mom, I could use it to help people."

"You want to start up where Dad stopped?" Her mother guessed right and Lila nodded, apprehensive of the thoughtful look in her Mom's eyes. "I had always known this day might come." She continued after a moment and took both of Lila's hands in her own. "Sweetheart, it is true that I would love to see you step into some boring office job that keeps you safe but there is something that I want even more for you than being safe. And that is being happy. If taking up the Hawkeye mantle and becoming an Avenger makes you happy then I will support you."

"Really?" 

"Sweetheart, of course," Mom emphasized, squeezing her hands, "I will worry and I will insist that I will always know when you get hurt." Well, with Bucky having no spine with her that certainly would be no problem and easily handled. "I will insist on seeing you as often as possible and I will tell you that I hate you going out, just like I did with your father, but I will always support you if it makes you happy. And in difference to your Dad back in the day, I know everyone on the team now, and I know that they would take good care of my little girl."

"That means a lot to me, Mom," Lila confessed and swallowed back her tears of relief and joy, she had feared so much that she would have to fight her Mom until she saw it. "And I promise you I will finish high school first, Dad says that Sam and Rhodey won't let me even close to the base otherwise anyway. And I will not take any unnecessary risks, I'm not Dad."  
"I know," her Mom chuckled and let go of one hand to cup the side of Lila's face, "You're so much smarter than your Dad. You'll never see the inside of a dumpster or hang upside down from a bridge. I'm proud of you, Lila, I really am, it takes guts to make this decision, took courage to come here and talk to me."

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, Lila."

\--

Once she had Mom's approval, Lila had only one directive anymore before she would turn to Sam and Rhodey, before she would turn back to Dad and Bucky and ask for real training with a real goal in mind now.

One part of her family was still left and though his voice didn't have as much weight as her parents' had, she still would hear him out, and if he said no, she would hesitate just like she would have had with any other person.

Her little brother.

Her little brother, named for two heroes who had died in the line of duty that she was hoping to step into. Nate had never known Pietro, neither had Lila for that matter, but Pietro hadn't died before she was even born. Nate barely would keep his own memories of Aunt Nat either, Cooper could hardly remember Uncle Phil and he had been older than Nate when Phil had died.

They had all made it their target somehow to keep telling Nate stories so he would in some way know the people he had been named for.

He was quiet her brother, sometimes he got lost in his little world and they just needed to wait until he came back to them, he was gentle and loved to be cuddled. Large crowds scared him and he was happiest on the farm but he was the greatest and Lila loved him to pieces. Similar to her, Bucky was his favourite person outside their parents and siblings, Cooper preferred picking apart Rhodey's brain.

She found her little brother up in the treehouse that her Dad and Bucky had built in the first spring after Thanos and it was still so hilarious to see either of them squished inside here while Nate could still stand tall. Contrary to Coop and her, he completely came after their Mom where it concerned his height, even if the rest was all Dad, his mini-me her Mom called him.

"Hey," she called when she was awkwardly balancing on the top steps of the ladder, "Can I come in?" Nate nodded and pointed to the heap of pillows in the corner, she liked sitting here with him to read. Making herself comfortable she watched her brother for a moment where he was playing with the Avengers action figures that always ended up on the farm if someone visited. The Winter Soldier one was the one he carried around everywhere so much it was basically glued to his hands. "What'cha playing out?"

"They're saving New York," Nate explained and his left hand had Sam as Cap flying through the air, the right one clutched Bucky like the safety blanket she had had as a kid. "They are fighting robots from the future." Sounded like a Bucky nightmare. "Bucky doesn't like it so Cap told him to come here to us to make sure we're safe." That sounded about right, Lila chuckled.  
"Can I play?" She wanted to know and Nate held out Cap to her, reaching for the Scarlet Witch figurine, when he turned a little to push over one of his toy robots with the toy's hands, Lila saw the Winter Soldier figure peaking out from the chest pocket of Nate's dungarees. "Hey, Nate, do you think I could be a superhero like Cap and Uncle Bucky?"

Nate immediately looked up to her and blinked, "You already are." He said it so matter of fact with his big blue eyes looking so sincere, Lila immediately fought back tears. "Why are you asking?"  
"Because I wanna be an Avenger and I wanted to see what you think of that?" Lila explained to him and Nate shrugged, like it was totally not a surprise to him at all, or even news. "So, you'll be okay if I go and fight with them? I could get hurt."  
"Dad got hurt in the kitchen this morning," Nate pointed out in his so often un-arguable logic and Lila nodded because she had no words. "You'll be good," Nate went on and turned back to his game, "You'll safe people like Dad did but you gotta come visit me."

"I will, I promise."

They played until Mom called for dinner.

\--

Bucky cursed in whatever language came to mind as he flung himself behind the closest shipping contained, raising the com on his wrist up to his lips while reloading his gun.

"For fuck's sake, Sam, I'm pinned down here, where is the fucking back up?" He demanded to know and kept his ears half focused on the sound of metal boots approaching. This was the final straw, if anyone even thought about letting this stupid AIM keep existing, Bucky was going to pick up farming for good, he was so sick of them and these out of control spinning experiments.  
"Buck, I'm doing my best," Sam's voice came in quickly, annoyed and frustrated, but not by Bucky, those fucking robots had turned up all over the place, "I got more sightings than people at hand, you gotta hold on a moment longer."

"Then at least allow me to shoot to destroy," Bucky grumbled and leaned around the edge of the container to see better, "And also answer me the simple question of have we found out if they can fly yet?" He asked and took out a switch blade from the back of his jacket.  
"Can't fly," Sam brought him some good news at least, in his background the shield hit something metallic, "And please do shoot to destroy, I thought that was obvious the second we established there weren't humans inside."

Scrap metal then, alright, Bucky could happily get in on that.

"Just hold on, Bucky, I'll get someone your way the moment I can," Sam clicked himself off again and it was just in time for Bucky's ears to hear the approaching bots. He sighed and brought his hands together around knife and gun as he got back to his feet and swung himself around the container, let's get to work then.

A few minutes later he was surrounded by heaps of cheap metal and wires, some of the bots still whirring in pitiful intervals but Bucky didn't care, they weren't human, tech could die. 

Unfortunately they were still coming and though he wasn't exhausted, he was growing a little weary and frustrated, he had blown off time on the farm for this shit show. Trapped on the docks outside Brooklyn, overgrown bait for bots to keep them away from the civilians.

Why had Bucky chosen this job again?

"Get down," a voice suddenly called out in his ear and Bucky went down on one knee immediately, metal hand spread over the back of his head. Not a second later something hit the ground not three feet from him and a click was the only warning before a wave of something got blasted out across the shipping yard. Bots dropped to the ground all around, like a house of cards falling down in the slightest breeze, Bucky concluded as he got up again slowly, seemed like Parker and Rhodey had finally found an EMP able to stop them and keep them actually down.

He looked up to his right when light feet touched down on the stacked up containers there, and he smiled when he found purple and black.

"Nice shot, Hawkeye."

Lila rolled her eyes and gave a salute.


End file.
